Interactive entertainment network system and method for providing short sets of preview video trailers

ABSTRACT

An interactive entertainment network system has a video-on-demand (VOD) application which enables viewers to select criteria for grouping various video content programs (e.g., movies, games, TV shows, etc.) into manageable sets for convenient review. Once grouped, the previews or &#34;trailers&#34; for the set of programs are displayed. The VOD application permits the viewer to browse the trailers at their own rate, skipping forward to the next trailer or backward to the previous trailer. If the viewer settles on a particular program, the VOD application also allows the user to rent the program immediately from the trailer being displayed on their television set, without returning to a menu or other order screen.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to interactive entertainment network systems,such as interactive television (ITV) systems, and to methods foroperating such interactive entertainment network systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Movie and television audiences are very familiar with previews, thoseone to three minute video clips that reveal highlights of upcomingshows. The preview clips, which are known as "trailers" in the filmindustry, are important promotional tools. They play on viewer emotionsto entice viewers to see the program. The trailers are carefully craftedby the studios to present the most compelling sales pitch for watching aprogram. Given the importance of trailers, it is not uncommon for astudio to allocate a significant portion of the entire program budget tothe production of a short trailer.

In the newer, interactive television (ITV) environment, it would beadvantageous to provide trailers to attract potential viewers intorenting a program over the interactive network. ITV systems have asingle computerized control center, known as the "headend", whichinteractively communicates with multiple distributed television unitslocated in subscriber homes. The headend provides traditional forms ofprogramming, such as the familiar cable and broadcast programs, as wellas newer forms of programming, such as video-on-demand. In thevideo-on-demand (VOD) mode of operation, a viewer can order video moviesdirectly from his/her own television set. Indeed, in a full interactiveentertainment network system like this invention, it is contemplatedthat a viewer will be able to order "on demand" movies, video games,television shows, and other video content programs from their home.

Video trailers would be particularly useful for the ITV video-on-demandmode to entice viewers into renting a movie, video game, or TV show.However, there is an unresolved issue with respect to how trailers canbe conveniently supplied to selective viewer homes. Present designs ofITV systems anticipate having hundreds to thousands of movies, videogames, and TV shows stored at the headend. The trailers for theseprograms will also be stored at the headend. One approach is to transmitthe hundreds to thousands of trailers in sequential order, repeating thetransmission each time the full repertoire is exhausted. But, this largevolume of unrelated trailers is not very manageable or meaningful to theviewer, and thus, not useful from a practical or marketing standpoint.Viewers might become bored watching multiple trailers in which they haveno interest and, as a result, switch out of the VOD mode to anotherchannel.

Movie viewers, in particular, are accustomed to browsing for videomovies in video rental stores. Such stores offer hundreds to thousandsof videos, but have them grouped according to different categories. Forinstance, videos are often grouped by kind, such as new releases,oldies, westerns, foreign films, family films, and so forth. Othergroupings might be by actor/actress name, alphabetical order of title,or topic. These groupings assist a shopper in locating a section ofinterest within which the shopper can limit his/her search for asuitable video movie.

It would be nice to provide the convenient organization afforded by avideo store in the ITV video-on-demand environment. Unfortunately,unlike a video store which has an abundance of physical floor space topresent many different movies, the ITV system only has the limited spaceavailable on a TV screen to present the options. Accordingly, it is oneobject of this invention to provide an ITV system that organizes videomovies according to different categories and provides a manageable setof video trailers about the movies.

Another problem is that once the set of video trailers is provided, theviewer would like to scan the trailers at their own pace, skipping theunappealing ones and perhaps replaying the good ones. In today's remotecontrol TV world, viewers have become conditioned to quickly scanningtelevision channels, one after another, often staying on a channel foronly a few seconds. This practice is known as "channel surfing". It isanother objective of this invention to enable a viewer to "surf" throughthe grouped video trailers at their own rate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides an interactive entertainment network system witha video-on-demand (VOD) application that is like having a video store inyour own home. Viewers are permitted to select criteria for groupingvarious video content programs (e.g., movies, games, TV shows, etc.)into manageable sets. Once grouped, preview video trailers for the setof programs are displayed. The VOD application permits the viewer tobrowse the trailers at their own rate, skipping forward to the nexttrailer or backward to the previous trailer. If the viewer settles on aparticular program, the VOD application allows the user to rent theprogram immediately from the trailer being displayed on their televisionset, without returning to a menu or other order screen.

The interactive entertainment network system of this invention has aheadend connected to multiple user interface units in individual homesvia a distribution network, such as cable, RF, and/or satellite network.The headend provides full length video content programs and associatedpreview video trailers about the video content programs to the userinterface units, which are commonly referred to as "set-top boxes" inthe ITV arena.

The headend has a continuous media server database which stores theactual video data streams of both the full length video content programsand their associated preview video trailers. The video data streams arestored digitally as individual data files. Unique monikers are assignedto each program and trailer to locate them within the continuous mediaserver database. The headend also has a program information databasewhich maintains program data records pertaining to the video contentprograms. The program data records contain information about theprograms, such as a program ID, title, moniker, cast members, director,rating, length of movie, brief description, and so on.

The program information database also contains information pertaining toeach preview video trailer, such as its trailer ID and moniker. Theprogram information database correlates the program IDs of the fulllength video content programs with the trailer IDs of the associatedpreview video trailers. In one implementation, this correlation isaccomplished using a join table which interrelates the program andtrailer IDs.

Each user interface unit has a processor and a video-on-demand (VOD)application which executes on that processor. The VOD applicationenables a user to select a group of programs from among all of theprograms stored at the headend based upon a specified criteria, such asnew releases, star name, title, customized viewer list, or any otherdefinable criteria. The criteria is preferably presented as scrollablelists which the viewer can manipulate to select a certain criteria. Inan example implementation, two lists can be presented simultaneously: astar list and a title list. The star list is first displayed, and uponselection of a star, a second list of movie titles in which the selectedactor appears is displayed. The second list of movies provides anexample manageable set of related video programs from which the viewercan choose.

Once a viewer actively selects a particular criteria, the user interfaceunit transmits a message containing that criteria to the headend overthe distribution network. In response to the message, the headendsearches the program information database using the criteria as a queryto locate video content programs which meet the specified criteria. Thesearch finds the program data records of the criteria-satisfyingprograms. The program IDs are extracted from the records and used tocross-reference via the join table to corresponding trailer IDs. Theheadend uses the trailer IDs to access other records which contain thetrailer monikers of the preview video trailers for the video contentprograms that satisfy the viewer criteria.

As a result, the headend selectively groups a manageable set of previewvideo trailers for transmission to the requesting user interface unit.The headend transmits the program data records, including the programIDs and monikers and the trailer IDs and monikers. The headend alsobegins transmitting the set of preview video trailers in sequentialorder for display on the viewer's television set. The transmission ofthe trailers can be automatic, or in response to the viewer actuating a"preview" icon.

The user interface unit has a memory which queues the trailer monikersand IDs in an order that corresponds to the sequential order in whichthe associated preview video trailers are to be displayed. A previewbrowse user interface executes on the user interface unit as part of theVOD application to facilitate display of the preview video trailers.

The preview browse user interface has actuatable control icon buttonswhich enable a user to skip from a presently displayed preview videotrailer to another preview video trailer. In one implementation, thepreview browse user interface has next/previous control buttons whichenable a user to skip from a presently displayed preview video trailerto a next or previous preview video trailer. Upon actuation, a processorresident at the user interface unit sends to the headend a trailermoniker that is next or previous to the trailer moniker of the presentlydisplayed preview video trailer relative to their queue order within theunit's memory. The headend retrieves the next/previous trailer andbegins transmitting it. To the viewer, this change appears nearlyinstantaneously, with little latency. The viewer therefore feels incontrol of the review rate, and is able to "surf" through the differentpreviews.

The preview browse user interface also has an operable order iconoverlaid on the displayed preview video trailer to enable the user toorder the video content program that corresponds to the displayedpreview video trailer. Upon ordering, the user interface unit sends amessage containing the program moniker of the program associated withthe displayed preview video trailer to the headend. The headend uses theprogram moniker to access the continuous media server database andretrieve the full length video content program. The headend transmitsthe full length video content program to the requesting user interfaceunit for display on the viewer's television set.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a interactive entertainment network systemaccording to this invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a user interface unit according to thisinvention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary screen illustration of a video-on-demandapplication, and particularly, of an initial screen in a preview browseuser interface.

FIG. 4 is another exemplary screen illustration of the preview browseuser interface, appearing subsequent to the FIG. 3 screen.

FIG. 5 is yet another exemplary screen illustration of the previewbrowse user interface, which can appear subsequent to the FIG. 4 screen.

FIG. 6 is a simplified example of database records and a join table usedto correlate program and star IDs.

FIG. 7 is a simplified example of database records and a join table usedto correlate program and associated trailer IDs.

FIG. 8 is a simplified example of a data packet of program informationthat is sent from the headend to the STB.

FIG. 9 is another exemplary screen illustration of the preview browseuser interface, which can appear subsequent to the FIG. 4 screen.

FIG. 10 is a simplified example of database records and a join tableused to correlate viewer and program IDs.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of steps for initializing an interactiveentertainment network system for preferred operation.

FIGS. 12-14 present a flow diagram of steps for operating an interactiveentertainment network system according to this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows an interactive entertainment network system 20 in the formof an interactive television (ITV) system. System 20 includes acentralized headend or headend server 22 which is configured to providevideo content programs to multiple subscriber homes. Representativehomes 24a-24d are shown. The video content programs provided by headend22 might include traditional broadcast TV shows, cable programs,on-demand movies, video games, and other services such as those commonlyprovided in the past by on-line computer services. A single headendmight service 250,000 or more homes.

Each home has a user interface unit 26a-26d, commonly referred to as aset, top box (STB), coupled to a television set (TV) or video displaydevice 28a-28d. The user interface units receive digital video signalsfrom headend 22 and control which programs are displayed on theassociated TVs. Instead of separate STBs, a user interface unit can beincorporated in the TV itself in other implementations.

Headend 22 is interconnected to the subscribers' homes 24a-24d via amulti-tier network or distribution structure 30. In the illustratedembodiment, distribution structure 30 includes a high-speed,high-bandwidth fiber optic cable network 32 coupled to regionaldistribution nodes (represented by distribution node 34). The speed andbandwidth of the fiber optic cable affords the desired performance forsupporting a fully interactive system. Each distribution node 34 isconnected to multiple user interface units 26a-26d via conventional homeentry lines 36, such as twisted-pair lines or coaxial cable. As anexample, each distribution node 34 supports approximately 1200 homes. Astechnology continues to improve, it is believed that parts of thedistribution structure can be replaced with wireless forms ofcommunication, such as RF communication or satellite communication.

Each user interface unit 26a-26d is configured to run a video-on-demand(VOD) application 38a-38d. VOD is like having a video store in your ownhome. Viewers are permitted to browse a wide selection of movies, videogames, and TV shows, and rent the program they want to see immediatelyfrom their own TV sets. The VOD application is activated when a viewerswitches to a designated VOD channel on the STB.

Headend 22 provides both video content programs and associated previewvideo trailers to the user interface unit within each home. The programsand trailers are transmitted as digital video data streams from headend22 over distribution structure 30 to homes 24a-24d. Headend 22 includesa continuous media server 40 which has a program and trailer storage 42to store the digital video data streams as independent files. Each datafile represents a full length video content program--such as afeature-length movie, video game, or past TV show--or a preview of thatmovie, game, or show. Present designs of program and trailer storage 42are expected to hold hundreds to thousands of full length programs andtheir trailers.

A potential viewer can select any one of these video data streams forviewing at any time. Unique monikers are assigned to each data file(i.e., each full length program and each trailer). The monikers are usedto locate the corresponding data file within the continuous media serverdatabase at the headend. The continuous media server is preferablyimplemented as a disk array data storage system consisting of many largecapacity storage disks, each on the order of one to several Gigabytes.The video data streams are stored digitally on the storage disks inpredetermined or mapped locations. The locations of the video datastreams are kept in a memory map and each video data stream can beaccessed through pointers to the particular memory location.

The continuous media server can service simultaneous requests to view aprogram on demand (even the same program) from thousands of homes. Thedigitally stored video data streams can be accessed by any number ofviewers at the same or staggered times. For example, one household mightrequest a video data stream of a movie at 8:00 pm, and a secondhousehold might request the same video data stream of that movie at 8:02pm. This situation is easily accommodated by slightly staggered pointersto the same video data stream beginning at the same memory locationwithin program and trailer storage 40.

Headend 22 also has a database server 44 to store the programminginformation about each program and trailer. Database server 44 containsa structured query language (SQL) database 46 with program data recordscontaining information relating to available movies, games, TV shows, orother programs. The SQL records reflect such things as the programtitle, cast members, director, rating, whether the program has closedcaptioning or stereo audio, length of program, scheduled time of theprogram, network name, program category, description text, and so forth.The program information is used by the VOD and other applicationsrunning on the STB (such as the electronic programming guide) to assistthe viewer when previewing different programs.

The program data records stored in SQL database 46 also contain uniqueprogram IDs that are assigned to each full length video content programand unique trailer IDs that are assigned to each video trailer. Theprogram and trailer IDs are used as a shorthand identification tag whichcan be used for rapid search of SQL database 46 and for establishingrelational ties between a program and its associated trailer. Thisaspect is described in more detail below with respect to FIG. 7. Theprogram data records further contain the monikers to locate the programsand trailers within the continuous media server storage 42. Thesemonikers are short name descriptors that represent or call to indexingpointers to storage locations within storage 42 of continuous mediaserver 40. The pointers identify storage locations of the video datastreams of the programs and trailers that correspond to the informationlisted in the SQL database.

FIG. 2 shows a user interface unit or set-top box 50 according to oneimplementation of the invention. STB 50 includes a programmable dataprocessor 52, non-volatile memory (ROM) 54, volatile data/program memory(RAM) 56, and network I/O port 58. These components are interconnectedvia an internal multi-bit conductor or bus 60. Network I/O port 58 isresponsive to data processor 52 for communicating with the headend torequest and receive the program data records from SQL database 46. Thenetwork I/O port also receives the digital video data streams of thefull length programs and short trailers from continuous media server 40.Network I/O port 58 is preferably a bi-directional transceiverincorporating analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversioncircuitry.

A video-on-demand (VOD) application 62 runs on STB data processor 52from data/program memory 56. VOD 62 is an executable program which isdownloaded as an object or module from the headend in response toinstructions by a viewer. As part of the VOD application, a previewbrowse user interface (UI) 64 is also configured to execute on dataprocessor 52 from RAM 56. Preview browse UI 64 assists the viewer innavigating through portions of the video-on-demand application. Thepreview browse UI helps the viewer define a set of criteria used togroup programs of interest, and then facilitates the display of previewvideo trailers on the TV which correspond to these programs. The UIfurther enables the viewer to "surf" through the various trailers athis/her own pace, and rent a program for immediate viewing.

VOD 62 also maintains a cache or memory 66 in the STB which temporarilystores the program data records received from the headend. Cache 66 isused to store the program IDs and monikers as well as the trailer IDsand monikers.

A viewer enters the VOD application by switching to the designated VODchannel on the set-top box, either by random channel surfing or bydirectly switching to that channel. When the STB tunes to the VODchannel, a continuous loop of "new releases" trailers are immediatelydisplayed. These trailers are a predefined group of about 20-40 of thenewest video programs that are presently available for rent. Thetrailers are displayed in a sequential fashion, one after another, toentice a viewer to stay on the VOD channel, watch more previews, andultimately order a program.

FIG. 3 shows an initial screen display 70 of the preview browse UI. Inthis graphic illustration, outer rectangle 72 represents the televisionscreen. An inner rectangular area 74 represents the standardized NTSCvideo safe zone, which is the area of a TV screen that is presumed to beviewable on any set. The "new releases" trailers are played in area 72in full-screen video, thereby ensuring that the filmmaker's art incrafting the preview will be given its maximum possible visual impact.

The preview browse UI has multiple actuatable graphical icons overlaidon the video trailers. In initial screen display 70, four icon buttonsare present at the lower-left comer: an "order" button 76, a "choices"button 78, an "add to list" button 80, and an integrated "up/down"button 82. The buttons are 75 percent transparent and placed directlyover the video trailer. The graphical icon buttons are arranged withinvideo safe area 74.

The "order" button 76 enables the user to order a video content programthat corresponds to the displayed preview video trailer. It initiates afinancial transaction of renting the movie, video game, or TV show fromthe ITV service provider. The "choices" button 78 enables the viewer tochoose different criteria for grouping programs into manageable sets fora more selective review. For instance, the criteria might be by starname, category type (e.g. new releases, westerns, oldies, foreignfilms), or kind (i.e., video games, movies, TV shows).

The "add to list" button 80 permits the viewer to create a customizedlist of personal favorites that he/she might wish to watch some day. Asthe viewer browses the trailers, the viewer can simply click the "add tolist" button 80 and the program ID of the video content programassociated with the presently displayed trailer is added to thecustomized viewer list. The list is kept at the headend in the programinformation database.

The "up/down" button 82 enables the viewer to skip through the previewvideo trailers, forwards and backwards, in the same manner that theviewer is accustomed to channel surfing through traditional cablechannels. This allows the viewer to control the pace at which he/shewishes to watch the previews, skipping over uninteresting ones orreplaying previews of interest.

A focus frame, or the like, can be used to highlight the operablebutton. To enhance intuitive visual feedback to the viewer, the programbrowse UI provides a graphical change to indicate when an icon button isdepressed. This provides a visual and auditory feedback which the userassociates with the manual actuation and tactile sensation of depressinga physical control button on the STB or remote control handset. Thisfeedback is helpful in the interactive environment because the viewermight experience a slight delay, albeit very short, between the timehe/she depresses the physical control button and the time theappropriate response to the control is depicted on the TV. Bygraphically changing the icon, the viewer is visually informed thathis/her command has been received and is in the process of beingcompleted.

A space adjacent to the icon buttons is reserved for displaying textualinformation pertaining to the program preview that is being shown. Thisinformation includes the title, rental price, and rating, although anyother program related information can also be displayed (e.g., castnames, close caption, brief description, director, etc.). Thisinformation is included in the program data records.

Upon entering the VOD application, the new releases trailers aredisplayed. If the viewer does nothing, the previews of the new releasescycle through, over and over. The viewer can immediately order a programfrom this initial screen 70 using "order" button 76; add the program totheir customized list using the "add to list" button 80; skip throughthe previews using "up/down" button 82; or pop up other search criteriausing "choices" button 78 to select a new criteria for groupingprograms.

FIG. 4 shows a screen display 90 that is depicted when a viewer selectsthe "choices" button 78 to pull up possible search criteria fordifferent sets of programs. For discussion purposes, an example fourcriteria selection icon buttons pop up (as represented by the dashedarrow, which is not shown on the screen): a "new" button 92 whichactivates a list of programs that are newly released, a "stars" button94 which activates a list of stars, a "titles" button 96 which pulls upa list of program titles, and a "viewer list" button 98 which presentsthe personal customized list of programs. These four icon buttons areoverlaid on the displayed video trailers.

FIG. 5 shows a screen display 100 following selection of one of thecriteria selection buttons 92-98 from screen display 90 (FIG. 4). Inthis example screen display, the viewer has selected the "stars" button94 (FIG. 4) to bring up a list of stars 102. In response to thisactuation, the STB processor sends a message to the headend to retrievea list of stars from the program information database. The list of starsis downloaded to the STB memory. A portion of the entire stars list heldin the STB memory is presented as a scrollable list 102. A graphicalup/down arrow 104 indicates that the list can be bi-directionallyscrolled upwards or downwards.

In this implementation, the list scrolls while a focus bracket 106remains stationary. When the viewer manipulates up/down arrow 104 in theup direction, the star names shift downward within box 102 so that onedisplayed entry (e.g., "star 7") is removed as a new entry is added(i.e., an entry is added above the "star 1" entry). This yields anappearance of visually scrolling the focus bracket upward over the nextupper name (i.e., "star 3"). Conversely, when the viewer manipulates theup/down arrow 104 in the down direction, the list scrolls upward topresent a visual appearance of moving the focus bracket 106 down thelist.

The stars list (or any other) can be scrolled at a selected rate whichcan be adjusted by the viewer to meet their personal reading preference.The user interface unit offers an on-screen menu (not shown) whichpermits the user to adjust the scroll rate. The user interface unitkeeps the selected scroll rate in the programmable STB memory and usesit to scroll any on-screen list at the preferred speed.

Upon selection of a particular star name (e.g., "star 4"), the userinterface user sends the star ID to the headend to use as a query forsearching the program information SQL database. The database returns alist of movies in which the selected star has performed. That is, thesemovies satisfy the criteria specified by the viewer, which in this case,is the name of star 4.

FIG. 6 shows one implementation of the headend program informationdatabase for correlating the stars with the programs using a join table.The database has a program table 110 which stores the records pertainingto the programs. Table 110 contains a program ID, title, moniker, aswell as other information. A star table 112 is also maintained in theSQL database. It contains star IDs, star names, and other informationpertaining to the star. A join table 114 relates the program IDs fromprogram table 10 with the star IDs from star table 112. A join tableoffers a many-to-many relationship between items listed in differenttables. For example, the same star may appear in many different movies,and each movie typically features a different cast of many stars. Eachitem is stored in one place within the database, and redundancy islimited to the join tables. In the illustrated example, star 1 appearsin programs "title 1" and "title 3", and thus, the star's ID 101 is tiedto the program IDs 501 and 503 in join table 114. When the headendreceives a star ID from the user interface unit, the join table iseasily and quickly searched to find all program IDs that correlate tothe star ID.

The full program records of the tagged program IDs are then retrievedfrom the SQL database. The headend also retrieves the monikers and IDsof the trailers associated with the identified programs from the SQLdatabase. The programs are correlated with corresponding trailers withinthe database to simplify the task of cross-referencing the programs andtrailers.

FIG. 7 shows one implementation for correlating the full length videocontent programs with their associated preview video trailers. The SQLdatabase maintains a trailer table 116 which contains a list ofinformation pertaining to trailers, including the ID, name, and moniker.A join table 118 correlates the IDs of the full length programs with theIDs of their associated preview clips. Accordingly, the SQL database canbe queried using the program ID to return the related trailer ID of theassociated preview clip. Once the trailer ID is determined, the otherinformation about the trailer, such as its moniker, can be quicklyaccessed.

To continue the above example, the headend queries program/star jointable 114 using the star ID to retrieve programming information about aset of programs in which star 4 appeared. The headend also retrievesinformation pertaining to a set of trailers for those programs, usingthe program IDs to index the program/trailer join table 118. The headendtransmits the programming information back to the user interface unitover the distribution network.

FIG. 8 shows an example data packet 120 transmitted from the headend tothe STB. Data packet 120 contains program titles, runtime length of theprograms, program IDs, program monikers, trailer IDs, and trailermonikers. This packet is received and deciphered by the STB processorand the information contained therein is stored in the RAM.

With reference again to FIG. 5, the preview browse UI presents all or aportion of the list of programs in a second scrollable list 108. Here,seven program titles are displayed, all of which have star 4 appearingin them. The titles themselves might be listed in alphabetical orchronological order. This program list therefore contains a manageableset of programs (e.g., 1-20 programs) that can be conveniently reviewedby the user. To further assist the viewer, a label such as "Star 4Movies" can be displayed on the screen to give the viewer some notion ofthe selected movie grouping. As the viewer chooses new criteria, causingdifferent groupings of programs to be downloaded from the headend, thedescription label is updated to help identify the context of the currentgrouping of programs.

The above example employed a star name as a selection criteria. However,other criteria can be used to group different sets of programs for theviewer. For example, FIG. 9 shows a screen display 130 which is depictedupon selection of the "viewer list" button 98 (FIG. 4). Screen display130 presents a scrollable list 132 which contains the personalcustomized list of programs that is created by the viewer. This list isgenerated by sending a viewer ID to the headend as a query for the SQLdatabase.

FIG. 10 shows an implementation for correlating the viewer IDs with theprogram IDs of the video content programs at the headend to help respondto a query for the viewer's own customized list. The SQL database at theheadend maintains a viewer table 134 which contains a list of viewersand their associated unique IDs. A join table 136 correlates the programIDs from program table 110 and the viewer IDs from viewer table 134. TheSQL database therefore maintains a customized list of programs for eachviewer. Upon receipt of the viewer ID from the STB, the database returnsinformation of the video content programs that are correlated with theviewer ID. The headend transmits a data packet of programminginformation (similar to packet 120 is FIG. 8), including the program IDsand monikers and the trailer IDs and monikers. It is noted that thislist, as well as others, might already have been downloaded to the STBas part of initialization procedures when activating the video-on-demandapplication.

The programming information is used by the STB to form viewer list 132in FIG. 9. As described above, the customized viewer list 132 can bescrolled upwards and downwards at a selectable rate to see all of thetitles contained in the list. Up/down arrow icon 104 and focus bracket106 are provided to aid in this process.

Notice that screen display 130 in FIG. 9 includes a "remove" icon button140 which can be actuated to delete the highlighted program title fromthe list. Upon actuation of button 140, the user interface unit signalsthe headend to remove the association in the join table 136 between theviewer ID and the program ID of the removed program.

Alternatively, the viewer can add programs to the list by actuating the"add to list" icon button 80, whereby the user interface unit informsthe headend to associate the program ID of the added program with theviewer ID in join table 136. This feature enables the viewer tointeractively assemble his/her own list 132 of preferred programs,adding titles to it and removing titles from it. Personalizing theprogram listings lends a sense that the viewer is in control of thetechnology, and should not be intimidated by it. The "add to list" iconbutton 80 is available on all of the screen displays for the user'sconvenience and to further enhance the degree of interactivity of thesystem.

With reference to FIGS. 5 and 9, the preview browse UI has a "preview"icon button 142 which can be actuated to preview the group of programscontained in the displayed list. In the FIG. 5 screen display, forexample, actuating "preview" button 142 initiates a series of videotrailers for those programs listed in title list 108. In the FIG. 9screen display, a series of video trailers for the programs listed inviewer list 132 are displayed upon actuation of the preview button 142.The new series of trailers replaces the default "new releases" trailers.

Upon election of the "preview" button, the user interface unit sends themoniker of one of the preview trailers to the headend along with arequest to begin transmitting the corresponding video stream.Alternatively, the user interface unit might send a begin transmissionsignal, with the headend already knowing which set of clips to transmit.The headend transmits the video previews in sequential order accordingto the order shown on the displayed list. Preferably, the monikers andIDs of the trailers and associated programs are queued in the STB memoryin a queue order that corresponds to the sequential order in which theassociated preview trailers are transmitted.

The preview browse UI returns to screen display 70 of FIG. 3 to permitfull-screen viewing of the preview clips on the list as the are playedon the television set. In addition to calling up the highlighted programfrom the list, another benefit of the "preview" button is that itreadies the other trailers in the program grouping. As a result, aviewer might select a particular movie in which star 4 appeared, andreceive the preview of that movie. However, without returning to thelist, the previews to related movies with star 4 are made available forreview. This is very convenient for the viewer.

If left alone, the trailers for the selected list (e.g., the viewer'scustomized list) will run in a continuous loop, one after another. Theviewer can leisurely watch the short set of trailers for the listedprograms without interrupting them. Alternatively, the viewer canoptionally skip over previews of uninteresting programs or repeatpreviews of attractive programs.

In the illustrated implementation, "up/down" control button 82 (FIG. 3)operates as "next/previous" buttons which enable the viewer to skip froma presently displayed trailer to a next or previous trailer. Whenactivated, the user interface unit sends the next or previous moniker inthe queue order back to the headend. The moniker is used to access thecontinuous media server storage to retrieve the next or previoustrailer. The headend then ceases sending the present trailer and beginstransmitting the retrieved next/previous trailer so that the transitionappears almost instantaneous to the viewer. This interactive featureallows the viewer to surf through the video clips at their own pace.

The "next/previous" operation directly corresponds to the "up/down"operation of traversing a list. Flipping backward through previoustrailers is essentially the same as moving up through the list andskipping forward to next trailers is like moving down through the list,even though the list is not actually displayed. When the viewer reachesthe end of a set of previews, the previews loop back to the beginning ofthe list in a continuous manner.

The preview browse UI allows the viewer to order the full length programdirectly from the preview browse UI, without reverting to a blank ordermenu or the like. Suppose the viewer wishes to rent the program that ispresently being previewed. The viewer simply actuates the overlaid"order" button 76 in any one of the screens of the preview browse UI.This causes the STB to send a message with the program moniker thatcorresponds to the trailer being depicted. The program moniker is usedby the continuous media server database to retrieve the full lengthvideo content program. The headend then transmits the full length videocontent program over the distribution network to the STB that orderedthe program.

In other implementations, the STB might transmit the program ID to theheadend. The program ID can be related to the appropriate programmoniker via program table 110 in SQL database. Yet another alternativeis to have the STB send the trailer ID to the headend. The trailer IDcan be cross-referenced to the program ID via join table 118, which isthen related to the appropriate program moniker via program table 110.

FIGS. 11-14 show a method for operating an interactive entertainmentnetwork system of this invention. FIG. 11 shows the initialization stepsfor implementing an interactive system. At steps 200 and 202, the fulllength video content programs and preview video trailers are stored inthe continuous media server (CMS) database as independent digital datafiles. A unique moniker and ID is assigned to each full length programand to each trailer (step 204). These monikers and IDs are stored in theSQL database at the headend (step 206). A list of viewers and their IDsis also maintained in the SQL database (step 208). In fact, the SQLdatabase maintains all of the programming information pertaining to theprograms, such as cast members, director, runtime length, rating, and soon, as represented by step 210 of storing the star IDs in this database.

Once the program parameters are stored, they can be correlated with oneanother to promote an efficient operation (step 212). Namely, theprogram IDs and star IDs are correlated in join table 114 (FIG. 6); theprogram IDs and trailer IDs are correlated in join table 118 (FIG. 7);and the viewer IDs and program IDs are correlated in join table 136(FIG. 10).

FIGS. 12-14 show a method for operating the interactive system in theVOD mode. To promote clarity, the flow diagram illustrates exemplarysteps as though they are performed at either the headend server or userinterface unit. Beginning with step 216 in FIG. 12, the viewer activatesthe VOD application by switching the STB to the designated VOD channel.Initial data is received by the STB from the headend (step 218). Suchdata might include category lists, star lists, new releases lists, orother information that is useful in the startup phase. At step 220, theVOD application initiates the preview browse user interface and theinitial screen display 70 (FIG. 3) is depicted.

The default set of "new releases" trailers are shown. If the viewerremains passive, the "new releases" trailers will run in a continuousloop, one after another. If the viewer wishes to select a new group ofprograms, the viewer can actuate the "choices" button 78 to pull upvarious lists of criteria (e.g., star name, title, viewer list, etc.).From the one or more lists, the viewer actively specifies a criteria toselect a group of programs (step 222). The criteria is transmitted fromthe STB to the headend (step 224).

At the headend, a search of the SQL database is conducted to locateprogram records which meet the search criteria (step 226). For example,if the search criteria is the viewer's own list, the SQL database willuse the viewer ID to reference all associated programs that exist in thecustomized list join table 136 (FIG. 10). At step 229, the set ofprogram records that meet the criteria are sent back to the requestingSTB in the form of data packet 120 (FIG. 8). This packet includes theprogram monikers and IDs, and the trailer monikers and IDs.

At step 230, the viewer actuates the "preview" icon button 142 (FIGS. 5and 9) to request play of the first preview video trailer in the programset. This request is sent to the headend, which begins transmitting thepreview of the first trailer in the group in response (step 232).

Back at the STB, the previews of the requested set of programs aredisplayed on the TV set (step 234 in FIG. 12) and the program andtrailer monikers are queued in the same order that the trailers areplayed (step 236 in FIG. 13). As described above, the viewer can watchthe trailers as they are presented, or skip through them at the viewer'sown pace.

At step 238, it is determined whether the viewer has skipped to a nextor previous trailer. If so (i.e., the "yes" branch from step 238), flowcontinues in FIG. 14 with step 250 of retrieving the next/previousmoniker in the queue. This moniker is transmitted to the headend (step252) and used to retrieve the appropriate trailer video stream from theCMS database (step 254). The next/previous trailer is then transmittedback to the STB (step 256). In this manner, the STB stops playing theexisting trailer and begins playing the next/previous trailer on the TV(step 258). This process gives the viewer control to surf through theclips. Additionally, there is no screen dead time between trailers asthe next/preview trailer begins upon cessation of the present trailer.

Returning to FIG. 13, flow continues at step 240 (either directly fromstep 238 or from step 258 in FIG. 14) to determine whether the viewerhas ordered any program. If not (i.e., the "no" branch from step 240),the trailers continue to cycle. Once the viewer settles on a particularprogram and orders it (i.e., the "yes" branch from step 240), the STBtransmits the program moniker to the headend (step 242). The CMSdatabase is accessed using the moniker to retrieve the full length videocontent program (step 244), which is then transmitted back to the STB(step 246). The rented program is then displayed on the TV set (step248). The viewer's account for renting the program is charged theappropriate amount.

The means for performing the steps of this method are described abovewith reference to FIGS. 1-10.

The interactive entertainment network system of this invention providesshort, organized sets of previews that are manageable and convenient forreview. The system filters the entire database of programs into smallgroups of similar programs based on intuitive criteria. This isadvantageous over a system that always presents the same overwhelminglist of all available programs on the database to the user each timehe/she enters the VOD mode.

Another benefit of this invention is the freedom afforded the viewer tosurf through the group of previews at his/her own pace. This enhancesthe interactivity of the system, and encourages participation from theviewer. Still another benefit is the ability to order the full lengthprogram directly from the preview, as opposed to a stark order menu.This attribute is user friendly and creates an intuitive interface forthe viewer.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described inlanguage more or less specific as to structure and method features. Itis to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to thespecific features described, since the means herein disclosed compriseexemplary forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is,therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within theproper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted inaccordance with the doctrine of equivalents and other applicablejudicial doctrines.

I claim:
 1. In an interactive entertainment network system in which acontent provider serves video content programs and associated previewvideo trailers to a user interface unit over a distribution network, asystem comprising:an on-demand application resident at the userinterface unit to enable a user to select from among the video contentprograms based upon a specified criteria, whereupon selection, theon-demand application transmits a message containing the criteria to thecontent provider; a server at the content provider, responsive to themessage, retrieving the preview video trailers associated with the videocontent programs which meet the criteria and transmitting the retrievedpreview video trailers in a sequential order to the user interface unitthat sent the message; a preview browse user interface which executes atthe user interface unit to facilitate display of the preview videotrailers in the sequential order, the preview browse user interfacehaving next/previous control icon buttons which enable a user to skipdirectly from a presently displayed preview video trailer to a next orprevious preview video trailer in the sequential order; a memory at theuser interface unit to queue trailer monikers associated with thepreview video trailers in an order that corresponds to the sequentialorder in which the associated preview video trailers are transmitted;and wherein upon selecting a next or previous preview video trailer, theone-demand application sends to the content provider a trailer monikerthat is next or previous to the trailer moniker of the presentlydisplayed preview video trailer relative to their queue order within thememory to request the next or previous preview video trailer.
 2. A userinterface unit comprising:a processor; a network I/O port responsive tothe processor for receiving preview video trailers from a contentprovider, each preview video trailer having an associated trailermoniker which is used to locate the preview video trailer; a previewbrowse user interface which executes on the processor to facilitatedisplay of the preview video trailers in a sequential order; a memory toqueue the trailer monikers in an order that corresponds to thesequential order in which the associated preview video trailers aredisplayed; the preview browse user interface having actuatablenext/previous control buttons which enable a user to skip directly froma presently displayed preview video trailer to a next or previouspreview video trailer; and the processor, responsive to actuation of thenext/previous control buttons of the preview browse user interface,sending via the network I/O port to the content provider a trailermoniker that is next or previous to the trailer moniker of the presentlydisplay preview video trailer relative to their queue order within thememory.
 3. A user interface unit as recited in claim 2 wherein thepreview browse user interface has an operable order icon overlaid on thedisplayed preview video trailer to enable the user to order the videocontent program that corresponds to the displayed preview video trailer.4. A user interface unit as recited in claim 2 wherein the previewbrowse user interface presents at least one list of criteria that can beused by a user to select a group of preview video trailers for display.5. A user interface unit as recited in claim 2 wherein the previewbrowse user interface presents a first list of criteria from which auser can select a criteria, and upon selection of the criteria, thepreview browse interface presents a second list of video contentprograms that meet that selected criteria from the first list, whereinthe processor requests and receives from the content provider thepreview video trailers that correspond to the video content programs onthe second list.